As the years of the twentieth century began to roll by, reminders of the Minneapolis Conference continued to resurface. In July, 1912, former General Conference President G. A. Irwin directed the readers of the Review to the seven churches of Revelation. In the history of these churches the two striving forces of good and evil could be seen. Neither side had changed in their tactics to gain the hearts of men. Salvation in sin or through man's good works, has always been at the "foundation of all heathen religions, and is the principle of the Papacy still," Irwin declared. The message of justification by faith, on the other hand, had always been the "secret of the overcoming life." And it was this preaching of the message or justification by faith that had marked the beginning of the loud cry, which Ellen White had written about in November 1892. But what had been the history of this message? Irwin would give an answer:
If the preaching of righteousness by faith as a special message in this denomination was the beginning of the loud cry, and of the "light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth," God evidently did not intend that this message should cease until the whole earth was lightened with the glory of the Lord.
That the message did not go as designed is evident from the following statements by the Lord's servant: "The churches are lukewarm. ... The doctrine of justification by faith has been lost sight of by many who have professed to believe the third angel's message."
The question will doubtless arise in the mind of the reader why a message of such vital importance to individuals, a message that was the beginning of the loud cry, should be lost sight of. The answer to this question is found in the following statement by the same writer: "The enemy of man and God is not willing that this truth should be clearly presented; for he knows that if the people receive it fully, his power will be broken. If he can control minds so that doubt and unbelief and darkness shall compose the experience of those who claim to be the children of God, he can overcome them with temptation."
When the message of justification by faith (which the servant of the Lord said "is the third angel's message in verity") began to be preached in this denomination, the enemy was deeply stirred, and made a strong effort to stop its spread. ...
It is perfectly safe ... to say that we are years behind where we might have been and ought to have been in the progress of this work ... and when I read that only "those who are clothed with Christ's righteousness will in that day stand firm to truth and duty," and that "all those who have trusted in their own righteousness will be ranged under the black banner of the prince of darkness" I am persuaded that the time has fully come for the message of justification by faith to become again a prominent message in this denomination.[1]
It was evident to Irwin that the message of righteousness by faith had not accomplished that which was intended when it was given in 1888. Nearly twenty-five years later--and the Lord was still waiting.
In 1924, nine years after the death of Ellen White, the Ministerial Association Advisory Council voted to have Elder A. G. Daniells, former General Conference President, arrange a compilation of her writings on the subject of justification by faith. As he began his "exhaustive research," he was "amazed and awed at the solemn obligation resting" upon him. This study of the subject of righteousness by faith from the writings of Ellen White led Daniells to the "settled conviction" that her instruction presented "two aspects: primarily, the great amazing fact that by faith in the Son of God sinners may receive the righteousness of God; and secondarily, the purpose and providence of God in sending the specific message of receiving the righteousness of God by faith to His people assembled in General Conference in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the year 1888."[2]
Quoting from Ellen White's November 22, 1892, Review article and Early Writings, 85 and 86, Daniells concluded that it "places the latter rain visitation with the loud cry, the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, and the flooding of the earth with the light of the third angel's message." It was evident to Daniells that "the beginning, or opening, of all these events is at the same time. The appearance of one is a signal for all to appear."[3] Yet, as Daniells surveyed the thirty-eight years since the Minneapolis message, he was led to a sorrowful conclusion:
How sad, how deeply regrettable, it is that this message of righteousness in Christ should, at the time of its coming, have met with opposition on the part of earnest, well-meaning men in the cause of God! The message has never been received, nor proclaimed, nor given free course as it should have been in order to convey to the church the measureless blessings that were wrapped within it. The seriousness of exerting such an influence is indicated through the reproofs that were given. These words of reproof and admonition should receive most thoughtful consideration at this time [in 1926]....
O that we had all listened as we should to both warning and appeal as they came to us in that seemingly strange, yet impressive, way at the Conference of 1888! What uncertainty would have been removed, what wanderings and defeats and losses would have been prevented! What light and blessing and triumph and progress would have come to us![4]
Only a few years after Daniells' book was printed, Taylor Bunch, pastor, Bible teacher, and author, produced a pamphlet titled, Forty Years in the Wilderness in Type and Antitype, which put forth similar views on the latter rain and loud cry.[5] In this pamphlet, Bunch presents the parallels between the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the children of Israel in their journey from Egypt to Canaan. With the help of his wife, Taylor Bunch presented the fall and spring weeks of prayer at Pacific Union College during the 1930-1931 school year, where he presented the subject matter from his pamphlet.[6] Several years later in 1937, Bunch presented a similar series of thirty-six sermons at the Battle Creek Tabernacle during the Sabbath afternoon vesper services. These sermons were published in book form under the title The Exodus and Advent Movement in Type and Antitype, for "the special accommodation of those who heard them, and also because of requests from ministers and other gospel workers who desire them."[7]
In his studies, Bunch went into more detail than Daniells had. When he came to the Kadesh-Barnea experiences of ancient Israel, Bunch applied it to the 1888 Minneapolis Conference and its aftermath and the Church's turning back into the wilderness of wandering. Bunch claimed that "the message of righteousness by faith was preached with power for more than ten years during which time the Minneapolis crisis was kept before the leaders." Quoting from Ellen White's November 22, 1892 Review article, Bunch declared that the "message brought the beginning of the latter rain. ... Why did not the latter rain continue to fall? Because the message that brought it ceased to be preached. It was rejected by many and it soon died out of the experience of the Advent people and the loud cry died with it. It can begin again only when the message that brought it then is revived and accepted." Just as Israel, standing on the borders of Canaan, had to come to grips with their past, so Adventism, Bunch suggested, must "get a vision" of their past:
"Just before the end the Advent people will review their past history and see it in a new light. We must study and understand the antitypes of the two Kadesh-Barnea experiences of ancient Israel and profit by the mistakes of our fathers especially during the 1888 crisis. We must acknowledge and confess the mistakes of our fathers and see to it that we do not repeat them and thus further delay the final triumph of the Advent Movement. The history of the past must be reviewed and studied in the light of these mistakes and their consequence in a long delay of the coming of Christ. Such a vision will explain many puzzling questions and will greatly strengthen our faith in the divine leadership of the Advent Movement."[8]
Following Bunch's 1930 fall week of prayer at Pacific Union College, it did not take long for news to travel down to Elmshaven, where the White Estate was located at the time. D. E. Robinson, one of the White Estate staff, sent a letter to Bunch, and although writing cordially, took exception to several of Bunch's comparisons and conclusions between ancient Israel and the Advent movement.[9]* This began an era of seeking to free Adventism from charges that the 1888 rejection and years following had brought about a delay in Christ's return.[10]*
Written for Our Example
The Bible has been given to us to teach us lessons from its inspired stories; lessons that are applicable to our own day. In Leviticus, chapter 26, Moses recorded for the children of Israel the promises of blessings or cursings for following or departing from God and His counsels. Found in the list of blessings are promises for the early and latter rains, but in the cursings, that heaven would become like iron and the earth like brass (26:4, 19). Also found in this chapter are the inspired remedies if the curses were brought upon the nation: "And they that are left of You shall pine away in their iniquity in Your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land." (26:39-42, all emphasis in Bible texts supplied).
Thus, in order to be restored to their land, Israel would have to confess and acknowledge their own sins and the sins of their fathers, which they had perpetuated, acknowledging that these combined had brought upon them their punishment of captivity in a foreign land. The same concepts were reiterated in the book of Deuteronomy and repeated to Israel before they crossed over into the Promised Land (Deut. 9:1-29; 11:13-21; 12:3-8; 28:1-68; 30-32). Solomon repeated these biblical truths at the coronation of the temple during his kingship (2 Chron. 6:12-40; 7:1-15).
Not more than a century after Solomon passed to his death however, we find Elijah calling the people away from Baal worship, which had ultimately caused no dew or rain to fall upon the land, just as Moses had written. In response to the accusations of the king that Elijah was the troubler or cause of problems for Israel, he replied that it was the fault of the king and his father's house (2 King 18:18).
We find that King Hezekiah sought to bring revival and reformation to Judah by following the admonitions found in Leviticus and Deuteronomy: "And [Hezekiah] said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs. ... For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this" (2 Chron. 29:5-9). Incidentally, Ellen White states that the leaders in Hezekiah's day were "seeking forgiveness for the sins of the nation."[11]
King Josiah recognized that Judah was in grave danger after he read the book of Deuteronomy, because "our father have not kept the word of the lord, to do after all that is written in this book" (2 Chron. 34:1-30). He thus confessed his sins and the sins of his fathers and sought to avert the punishment pronounced by God through the writings of Moses.
Jeremiah, who foresaw the coming destruction of Jerusalem, recognized that results of harlotry or Baal worship had brought about the curses: "Thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed" (Jeremiah 3:2, 3). His call was to "only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God ... for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God" (Jeremiah 3:13, 25).
Ellen White confirms that Jeremiah was following the counsel of Deuteronomy: "And in addition to these wonderful pleadings [Jeremiah 3:12-14, 19, 22], the Lord gave His erring people the very words with which they might turn to Him. They were to say: 'Behold, we come unto Thee ... for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.' ... Jeremiah called their attention repeatedly to the counsels given in Deuteronomy. More than any other of the prophets, he emphasized the teachings of the Mosaic law and showed how these might bring the highest spiritual blessing to the nation and to every individual heart."[12] When destruction finally came, Jeremiah would lament "Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities ... woe unto us, that we have sinned" (Lam. 5:7, 16).
Daniel recognized that Judah had been carried off to Babylon in fulfillment of the curses spoken of in Deuteronomy. Accordingly, he prayed the prayer of confession for his sins and the sins of his fathers and acknowledged the just punishment which had been brought upon them: "Because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us" (Dan. 9:16).
When the seventy-year captivity was ended, God orchestrated the return of the Israelites to their homeland. But this did not take place until there was confession and acknowledgement of the sins that had brought them there: "Zerubbabel and his associates were familiar with these [Deut. 28 and Deut. 4] and many like scriptures; and in the recent captivity they had evidence after evidence of their fulfillment. And now, having repented of the evils that had brought upon them and their fathers the judgments foretold so plainly through Moses; having turned with all the heart to God, and renewed their covenant relationship with Him, they had been permitted to return to Judea, that they might restore that which had been destroyed."[13]
When Nehemiah heard that Jerusalem was still in ruins, he prayed the prayer of Leviticus and Deuteronomy: "I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses." (Nehemiah 1:4-8).
Ellen White confirms that Nehemiah faithfully "made confession of his sins and the sins of his people. ... See Deuteronomy 4:29-31. This promise had been given to Israel through Moses before they had entered Canaan, and during the centuries it had stood unchanged. God's people had now returned to Him in penitence and faith, and His promise would not fail."[14] Nehemiah would lead similar calls to repentance, as is found in chapter 9. Ellen White also confirms once again the basis for such events: "As they had listened from day to day to the words of the law, the people had been convicted of their transgressions, and of the sins of their nation in past generations. They saw that it was because of a departure from God that His protecting care had been withdrawn and that the children of Abraham had been scattered in foreign lands, and they determined to seek His mercy and to pledge themselves to walk in His commandments. ... As the people prostrated themselves before the Lord, confessing their sins and pleading for pardon, their leaders encouraged them to believe that God, according to His promise, heard their prayers. They must not only mourn and weep, and repent, but they must believe that God pardoned them. They must show their faith by recounting His mercies and praising Him for His goodness."[15]
Nearly 500 years later, John the Baptist would come on the scene with his heaven directed message to prepare the way of the Lord: "Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2). "With the spirit and power of Elijah he denounced the national corruption, and rebuked the prevailing sins." He also "proclaimed the coming of the Messiah, and called the people to repentance."[16] But although many listened to his call for repentance, and in whose hearts the way was prepared to accept the Messiah, Israel as a nation would choose Barabbas instead.
Following the crucifixion of their own Messiah, the disciples spent ten days in fasting and prayer, repenting for their own sins and the sins of their nation, who had so treacherously dealt with Jesus. Only after this heaven-ordained process were they prepared for the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And their preaching the same morning, calling for repentance of the sins of the nation, brought 3,000 souls into the Christian faith (Acts 1 and 2).
Three and a half years later, Stephen tried to instruct the leaders of the Jewish nation of the authenticity of Christ as the true Messiah and to avert the coming destruction of Jerusalem. He directed their attention to the past mistakes of the nation which led them to crucify Christ. Notwithstanding God's long forbearance and Stephen's final call for repentance for their sins and the sins of their nation, they sealed their probation with his death. By their national pride and stiff-necked response, the Jewish leaders brought upon themselves and their nation the blood of all the righteous slain, from Abel to Zechariah the prophet, and now, the Messiah Himself (Acts 7; Matt. 23:35, 36).[17]*
What About Us?
The last-day church of Laodicea is represented as "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked," yet claiming to be "rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing" (Rev. 3:17). For more than 150 years the Laodicean call has been sounding. The Lord has made it clear that if the message were heeded, the work would be cut short in righteousness. Christ could have come before 1888. Yet when that didn't occur, the most precious message--the divine remedy--was sent to the church in 1888. But when many of our fathers rebelled against the message, they added that sin to the Laodicean condition. The refusal to admit such in the years following only brought about worsening conditions. The identification of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit as fanaticism ultimately drove the beginning of the latter rain and loud cry away. But denominational pride has kept us from admitting that the beginning of the latter rain was really aborted and that a long delay has been the result of our sins and the sins of our fathers.
The response to Taylor Bunch's call to Laodicean repentance was one of defense by some in leadership positions. That defense has grown and continued to this very day. When twenty years later, Donald K. Short and Robert J. Wieland stated that 1888 needed to be re-examined and pointed to the True Witnesses's call to repentance, the official responses became more malicious. Seventy-seven years have passed since Taylor Bunch presented his series of sermons in Battle Creek. We have recently celebrated 150 years of existence of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.[18] And now we have celebrated 125 years since the historic 1888 Minneapolis General Conference, which Ellen White said was the beginning of the loud cry and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as the beginning dew of the latter rain.
Some, it would seem, would like the 125th celebration to be the time when we finally put 1888 to rest. Yet many others, while wondering if such landmarks are worth celebrating, are also asking the question, where is the latter rain? And what has caused the long delay? Surely the Lord's promises have not changed! But alas, if the latter rain is to return once again to us as a people, as it did at the Minneapolis Conference and the years following, how will it happen without our recognizing the Laodicean charges for our sins and the sins of our fathers, and acknowledging the long delay as a result? How will we respond if we have not learned the lessons of the past, or if we have rewritten our history to fit our lukewarm denominational claims? How long will we continue to wound Christ in the house of His friends?
Ellen White's words ring just as true today as when she wrote them in 1892: "We have nothing to fear for the future except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history."[19] It is the prayer of the author that this book which you hold in your hands, will help us understand better our history.
Notes: